It is football’s impossible question to answer, but one that Max Gawn continues to ignite. Just who is the greatest ruckman of all-time?
Any conversation on this topic starts with Graham “Polly” Farmer, John Nicholls, John Schultz, John “Sam” Newman, Len Thompson, Gary Dempsey, Peter Moore and Simon Madden, and continues with modern champions Dean Cox and Gawn.
The next anointed one is Carlton’s Tom De Koning, who might one day force his way into the mix.
There were other great big men in between, but this group is consistently shortlisted as the ruck giants, from their varied skillsets to being trailblazers for a position that has drastically evolved from players’ height to their job description and even the rules.
Nicholls (189cm) and Farmer (191cm) played in a very different era as comparatively short to Cox (204cm) and Gawn (208cm), while Madden (198cm) – the only specialist ruckman to win a Norm Smith Medal – fits in between.
“Towards the end of my career, people talked about ‘Polly’ Farmer and John Nicholls, and then they put my name in the same group. I thought, ‘Thank you very much for that’,” Madden told this masthead.
“We were last century, and then Dean Cox comes along, and people talk about how he played, and how much influence he had. There’s a lot of good ruckmen, but I think Gawn’s the one they’re talking about now because he’s been a premiership captain, and he is getting on, but he’s still playing great footy.”
Newman considers the late Farmer the “most technically perfect” footballer he ever saw, to the point he tried to emulate his Geelong teammate’s style.
Farmer was the starting ruckman in the AFL’s team of the century, named in 1996, while selectors placed “Big Nick” Nicholls, whom Carlton’s best-and-fairest award is named after, in a back pocket to ensure he was recognised.
Scott Wynd rates his hardest opponent in the first five years of his career as fellow Brownlow medallist Dempsey, who was serving as Footscray’s ruck coach by then after 329 games of his own.
Max Gawn has put together a legendary career that shows no signs of ending.Credit: Getty Images
As for Damian Monkhorst, he raves about Madden’s ruck craft, marking power and ability to also impact the game while resting forward. Nicholls told this masthead in a rare interview that Madden was “by far” the best ruckman in the period after he and Farmer retired. Newman and Schultz also earned his respect.
“We played in a slightly different way. We used angles, never wrestled and jumped for the ball, but the game’s changed nowadays with umpiring,” Nicholls said.
“Max is one of those six-foot-eight guys, and he’s one of the best going around the last few years. I admire him as a leader and a ruckman – but give Tom De Koning another 12 months, and he will be the one.
“Some don’t have the tap work, some can’t take a mark, some can’t run down the ground, and some can’t chase, but De Koning can do all that stuff.”
Gawn, 33, has separated himself purely in All-Australian selections, with his seventh last year – all coming since 2016 – breaking a tie with Madden and Cox, but is reluctant to engage in discussing where he sits in the ruck pantheon.
“The only thing I’m really currently proud of myself about is longevity,” Gawn said on Triple M this week.
“I see people who were drafted around me, and teammates, retire, and to be able to play nine or 10 seasons in a row with not many injuries, and for one club [is an achievement].”
Gawn’s coach, Simon Goodwin, was more willing to address the topic after his captain delivered another sterling display in Melbourne’s victory over Richmond last week.
Simon Madden is widely considered as one of the best few ruckmen ever.Credit: Eddie Jim
“He’s got enormous pride in his game,” Goodwin said. “You’re seeing one of the best-ever go about his craft, and by what we’ve seen the last few weeks, he’s reminding everyone that there’s just that little bit more left in him.”
David Hale, now an assistant coach at Hawthorn, went head-to-head with Gawn and Cox, who he credits for kick-starting the trend of offensive ruckmen.
The 237-gamer rates each of them as “great”, but found the West Coast star harder to face, although “only because I didn’t play Gawn in his prime”. Luke Darcy can’t split them, while another Demon, Jeff White, gives Gawn a marginal edge over Cox. Matthew Lloyd is in Cox’s corner.
Peter Everitt’s top-three greatest ruckmen – at least that he saw – are Madden, Cox and Gawn, but not in any order because they played at different times and had contrasting strengths.
He described some of Gawn’s ruckwork to set up premiership-winning onballers Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Jack Viney as “poetry in motion”.
“You have to put Gawn right up there. Melbourne have relied on him a lot over the years,” Everitt said. “A lot of people don’t understand how big Gawn is … and for him to still move at pace, take that many marks, and win that many clearances – [he is a rare ruckman].”
Monkhorst, who played 215 games before spending most of the past two decades as a ruck coach, counted Madden, Shaun Rehn, Wynd and the late 1991 Brownlow medallist Jim Stynes among his strongest peers.
Nowadays, Collingwood’s 1990 premiership player admires Gawn’s leadership and willingness to be a constant marking target, but said it was too hard to rank ruckmen from different eras.
David Hale (right) rates champion Eagle Dean Cox as his toughest opponent.Credit: Sebastian Costanzo
“How do you possibly compare them? It’s unfair and unjustified,” Monkhorst said.
“People talk of John Nicholls and ‘Polly’ Farmer, but they were six-foot-two and six-foot-four [respectively]. How would they deal with a Max Gawn, who is six-foot-eight? They would be half-back flankers or onballers now.”
Wynd is most impressed by Gawn’s competitiveness and follow-up work, including his pack-marking, and is another who believes De Koning is on his way to a noteworthy career.
Beyond Dempsey, the ex-Bulldog hailed Madden’s ability to adapt as he became older and still maintain his dominance.
“What Simon taught me was he might not have been able to jump high in the latter part of his career, but he still dropped the ball where he wanted to, and would restrict the opposition ruckman by using his body,” Wynd said.
“It was a bit like [Wayne] Carey after he lost [strength in] his shoulders. He would still take plenty of marks on his chest, and have the ball fall on his side of the contest and not allow backmen near it.”
What is clear is there is significant respect between the ruck titans from various eras, and a shared want to recognise the importance of the role.
Madden, for his part, counts himself fortunate to have played against many ruck leviathans, but has one regret.
“My dad was a Geelong supporter, so I grew up on ‘Polly’ Farmer, but one of the biggest disappointments in my career was that my first year was John Nicholls’ last year, and I played only six games and missed playing against him,” Madden said.
“I’m sure he would have torn my hide very easily, and Sam Newman was the bloke who came along and taught me how to ruck differently from what I’d learnt.
“I was lucky enough to play against a long list of great ruckmen.”
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